Two killed in elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh; toll reaches 3 this week
Two people were killed in separate wild elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Saturday, taking the number of such deaths in the state this
Two people were killed in separate wild elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Saturday, taking the number of such deaths in the state this week to three, forest officials said. The attacks took place in the early hours in the Chhal and Kapu forest ranges of the Dharamjaigarh division. Officials said human-elephant conflict has remained a major concern in northern Chhattisgarh for more than a decade and has spread to parts of the central region in recent years. Read Full Story Dharamjaigarh Divisional Forest Officer Jitendra Upadhyay said panic broke out after a wild elephant entered Talgaon village in the Kapu forest range.
In the chaos, Shakuntala Bai, 37, was killed by the tusker when she ran out of her house. Her minor daughter narrowly escaped, he said. In another incident, Bandhan Singh Agariya, 50, a labourer, was killed by a wild elephant in Auranara village in the Chhal forest range at around 5 am. Upadhyay said Agariya had stepped out of his house to answer nature's call when the attack took place. Forest and police personnel rushed to both spots after being alerted by villagers and sent the bodies for post-mortem, the officer said.
He said immediate financial assistance of Rs 25,000 had been given to the families of each deceased, while the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh each would be released after formalities were completed. Further investigation is underway, he added. Korba district and the Dharamjaigarh area of neighbouring Raigarh are among the worst-affected regions, along with Surguja, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur districts, where elephants often move into villages and agricultural fields, leading to deaths and crop damage. On July 9, a 55-year-old man was trampled to death by an elephant while collecting wild mushrooms in a forest in Korba district.
Last month, a 40-year-old herdsman and a 70-year-old woman were killed in similar attacks in the district. According to forest department officials, more than 330 people have been killed in elephant attacks across Chhattisgarh in the past five years. Ends
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